This week, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit contesting what it alleges is a Trump administration pattern of detaining certain illegal immigrants who seek permanent residence based on their marriage to a US citizen.
More specifically, the ACLU alleges that immigration officials have been illegally detaining and seeking to remove non-citizen spouses who both have final orders of removal and who are seeking permanent residence.
The lawsuit centers on regulations US Citizenship and Immigration Services promulgated in 2016, during Barack Obama’s tenure, involving who is eligible to receive a provisional unlawful presence waiver.
The lawsuit contends the Trump administration’s actions violate the Constitution, the Administrative Procedure Act, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and regulations promulgated pursuant to the INA.